When you ask Kleoss Capital CEO, Hale Matsipa, if being one of the few black controlled equity firms in South Africa impacts how they do business, the answer is an emphatic no.

"We're commercial businessmen, we're extremely sensitive to transformation, and so we wear those hats. In fact, you can argue that transformation is part of being commercial. So no, it doesn't change our thinking."

"We came together out of the burning desire to leave our jobs and start something new for ourselves and also to utilise our expertise we had acquired in our banking worlds which was deal sourcing, deal structuring, advising clients and on acquiring and disposing of businesses. So I think we came to the realisation that if we can get together a pool of money, we could do this on our own," says Matsipa.

The ambition, Matsipa says, is for Kleoss Capital to be a multi-class investment manager in the alternative space.

"We identify companies, we value companies, we define and decide how much capital they need, what that capital is for, how they are going to grow the business with the capital we give them, whether they are empowered or not, their transformation story and then we invest in that business; we hopefully grow it, transform it and sell it at a higher price."

Explaining how they decide on which companies to invest in, Matsipa says the first thing they look at is whether they can get a good return.

"We've got to make a decision whether to invest it here or do we invest it elsewhere for a higher return. So if the returns make sense, we then look at it closely."

The second consideration, he says, is how much can they invest, and the third is the management team - how good are they; how well can they grow the business; and how well can they transform it over time.

The private equity firm targets companies with high growth potential that require both capital and strategic value-add to grow their businesses.

He explains, "What we are currently doing with this money is we are investing in mid-sized SME businesses and we’re buying share holdings in them. And we’ll continue to do that. But I think over time we will invest in other things."

"We do two simple things here – we raise money and we invest it. So why not raise money and invest in affordable housing and make sure your investors get a good return. Why not raise money and invest in renewable energy? Why not raise money and invest in debt instruments?"